GB270 Wagon - talk to me
Discussion
Does anyone on here have ownership experience of these? In 07 when I bought my STI I originally went to buy a new GB270 saloon but was quickly convinced to go down the more insane route. Now I've a dog I'm wondering if these are worth the extra over a regular PPP wagon of the same age, or even a PPP SL model.
Owners, let me know!
David
Owners, let me know!
David
I'm a big fan of the wagon and own a GB270, currently for sale on PH.
In answer to your question, they're probably a 4k premium over a PPP wagon. For that you get the 18" alloys, all the bodykit, a very good looking car, quickshift, timted windows, lowered springs which look good but I think I'd prefer the normal ones, then the interior if the option was selected. Obviously you get the ppp but you're comparing to a ppp anyway. You also get exclusivity, only 100 made and most of them have probably been better treasured, I haven't come across any scruffy looking wagons.
If you were going to add that kit, then its worth it, also cheaper to insure than a comparable modified wagon. If you're going to sling a dog in the back, personally I'd get a standard one! As ever, the trick is to get a nice example. I looked at loads and there is lots of trash about. Depending on the dog, with the Subarus its nigh on impossible to get the dog smell out of it, I looked at one that I walked away from because it was such a bad smell, it had been wet vacced and it gets in all the linings, seats etc so it could harm the residuals, more so on a GB maybe?
From a wagon vs saloon perspective, I've always much preferred the wagons and I have owned both.
The hawkeye wrx is almost crying out for a bigger turbo, if thats your thing, you only really need a high flow cat downpipe, bigger turbo, remap and you're away (plugs and fuel pump too) with an STi crusher. 350/350 would be a nice level of power/torque, there are some easily running 410lbsft but you'll destroy the box. The sti has the 6 speeder which is bullet proof but again I think I prefer the 5 speed for everyday use. To get any benefit from the sti box you'd need to strengthen the pistons on the sti anyway so unless you're going for big power there's not much between an sti or wrx upto this sort of level and the wagon is so much more low profile.
Cheers
Nito
In answer to your question, they're probably a 4k premium over a PPP wagon. For that you get the 18" alloys, all the bodykit, a very good looking car, quickshift, timted windows, lowered springs which look good but I think I'd prefer the normal ones, then the interior if the option was selected. Obviously you get the ppp but you're comparing to a ppp anyway. You also get exclusivity, only 100 made and most of them have probably been better treasured, I haven't come across any scruffy looking wagons.
If you were going to add that kit, then its worth it, also cheaper to insure than a comparable modified wagon. If you're going to sling a dog in the back, personally I'd get a standard one! As ever, the trick is to get a nice example. I looked at loads and there is lots of trash about. Depending on the dog, with the Subarus its nigh on impossible to get the dog smell out of it, I looked at one that I walked away from because it was such a bad smell, it had been wet vacced and it gets in all the linings, seats etc so it could harm the residuals, more so on a GB maybe?
From a wagon vs saloon perspective, I've always much preferred the wagons and I have owned both.
The hawkeye wrx is almost crying out for a bigger turbo, if thats your thing, you only really need a high flow cat downpipe, bigger turbo, remap and you're away (plugs and fuel pump too) with an STi crusher. 350/350 would be a nice level of power/torque, there are some easily running 410lbsft but you'll destroy the box. The sti has the 6 speeder which is bullet proof but again I think I prefer the 5 speed for everyday use. To get any benefit from the sti box you'd need to strengthen the pistons on the sti anyway so unless you're going for big power there's not much between an sti or wrx upto this sort of level and the wagon is so much more low profile.
Cheers
Nito
The US have had 2.5 N/A engines for years and from my research there have been quite a few HG issues, most of them related to corrosion around the gasket for various reasons, one of these being incorrect coolant and PH levels.
Subaru subsequently added ground straps to the cylinder heads which have apparently made a huge improvement and also recommend the use of only Subaru coolant. On the UK WRX 2.5 engine, I understand (again from reading into it) that most HG failures are from running high boost causing the heads to lift but to be honest I can only find a handful of HG issues on 06-07 cars.
With regards to fractured pistons/ringlands, again, it's hard to see how common this is, there are cars running big power with no issues. There seemed to be a spate of failures on the hatchback STi's 08> which was deemed to be down to the original engine maps and ignition strategy no doubt causing fractures through detonation.
Aside from the 08> STi hatches, I sometimes wonder how many failures are related from cars being hammered from cold or just general service neglect? The EJ20 had its fair share of bearing failures, almost always down to low oil level or I believe pressure. Subaru changing the service intervals from 7.5 to 10k was a large contributor to this and I personally have never run 10k between services on an Impreza. More like 5k to 7.5k absolute max.
Now that I've fitted gauges to my GB270, I've noticed the oil pressure behaves very differently on the EJ25 to the EJ20. They must have made changes to the oil supply system. I remember a lot of bearing failures on the classics seemed to blight the STi's more due to their higher rev limit and shorter gearing no doubt, but lots of failures seemed to happen when coming of the motorway on the slip road off throttle (there was a thread running on scoobynet way back documenting the failures). With my old UK classic, on coasting the pressure would drop substantially down to about 2bar from memory. With the EJ25, it'll drop down momentarily and then instantly blip itself upto about 4 bar. So what you get is almost an erratic initial response to the oil pressure off throttle on the needle but its keeping the pressure up in circumstances when traditionally it would have been far lower.
The 08 STi hatch> is responsible for a lot of doomsday scaremongering on the EJ25 engine, those who have ignored this and tuned away seem to have been absolutely fine. There's a thread on Scoobynet regarding the 08 hatches and it is staggering how badly handled this was by Subaru, I dread to think what damage it has done to their reputation and its not done the EJ25 engine any favours to have all that bad publicity either. I wonder how reliable the later STi MY11 is proving to be? (If anyone is buying them!!)
My 2p!!
Cheers
Nito
Subaru subsequently added ground straps to the cylinder heads which have apparently made a huge improvement and also recommend the use of only Subaru coolant. On the UK WRX 2.5 engine, I understand (again from reading into it) that most HG failures are from running high boost causing the heads to lift but to be honest I can only find a handful of HG issues on 06-07 cars.
With regards to fractured pistons/ringlands, again, it's hard to see how common this is, there are cars running big power with no issues. There seemed to be a spate of failures on the hatchback STi's 08> which was deemed to be down to the original engine maps and ignition strategy no doubt causing fractures through detonation.
Aside from the 08> STi hatches, I sometimes wonder how many failures are related from cars being hammered from cold or just general service neglect? The EJ20 had its fair share of bearing failures, almost always down to low oil level or I believe pressure. Subaru changing the service intervals from 7.5 to 10k was a large contributor to this and I personally have never run 10k between services on an Impreza. More like 5k to 7.5k absolute max.
Now that I've fitted gauges to my GB270, I've noticed the oil pressure behaves very differently on the EJ25 to the EJ20. They must have made changes to the oil supply system. I remember a lot of bearing failures on the classics seemed to blight the STi's more due to their higher rev limit and shorter gearing no doubt, but lots of failures seemed to happen when coming of the motorway on the slip road off throttle (there was a thread running on scoobynet way back documenting the failures). With my old UK classic, on coasting the pressure would drop substantially down to about 2bar from memory. With the EJ25, it'll drop down momentarily and then instantly blip itself upto about 4 bar. So what you get is almost an erratic initial response to the oil pressure off throttle on the needle but its keeping the pressure up in circumstances when traditionally it would have been far lower.
The 08 STi hatch> is responsible for a lot of doomsday scaremongering on the EJ25 engine, those who have ignored this and tuned away seem to have been absolutely fine. There's a thread on Scoobynet regarding the 08 hatches and it is staggering how badly handled this was by Subaru, I dread to think what damage it has done to their reputation and its not done the EJ25 engine any favours to have all that bad publicity either. I wonder how reliable the later STi MY11 is proving to be? (If anyone is buying them!!)
My 2p!!
Cheers
Nito
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